There’s an important early step when designing a game, and that’s the initial playtests.

It’s vital to get out into the open with a very early set of rules and prototypes, and actually run through the game a couple of times. You’ll always want to do this with a trusted few play testers, those who you know won’t pull their punches.

Sometimes a game will feel great in your head, but it won’t actually play well. Rules intended to create tension and interest just lead to misery. Something that you thought was cool is just unworkable.

It’s important to actually get playthroughs as these issues become obvious quickly.

In a card game I was working on, a mechanic that was supposed to allow a losing player to catch up was just letting the leading player get further ahead. It was a bad situation, and after a couple of plays it became clear that there was no way to salvage it.

It was much better to junk the game early, and start again, then to put lots of effort into development and polish for a wider set of playtesters.

Test early and often, and iterate on what you learn. This will lead to success (or at least more fun games).

It’s a way for fans of Magic: the Gathering to see the popularity of cards over time, as seen in decks that do well in various tournaments.

There are a set of simple filters available to anyone who is interested, just head over and give it a go.

If you register there are more options available to filter by, and I’ll be providing more types of chart soon, along with other views on the base data that drives the system.

This combines a lot of my favourite things, games, statistics and exciting web technologies. I hope you find it useful. If you have any feedback, just let me know. I’ll look forwards to hearing from you!